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    Biden Debates Palin, Facts

    Posted:
    10/5/08
    While many in the mainstream press declared Sen. Joe Biden the winner of last Friday's vice-presidential debate over Republican Gov. Sarah Palin on the evening of the event, the light of day has begun to reveal that many of Sen. Biden's claims that night were often times at variance with the facts. The McCain campaign was quick to release a list of fourteen specific misrepresentations or factual errors that Biden committed during the debate, and segments of the media are beginning to notice.

    Surprisingly, Biden's misstatements came mostly in the area of foreign policy, supposedly his strong suit. Perhaps the most egregious was Biden's insistence that his running mate, Sen. Barack Obama did not say that he would meet with the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, without preconditions. "It's simply not true," Biden said. But Obama made the comment in response to a question at the CNN/YouTube debate during the Democratic primary. The questioner asked, "Would you be willing to meet separately, without pre-conditions, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?" Obama's response was very simple and difficult to misinterpret. "I would," he said.

    Biden's claim that the United States and France had "kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon," has also come in for scrutiny. Hezbollah has been a force in domestic Lebanese politics since the early eighties, after the Israeli invasion. A proxy of Iran, Hezbollah has recently taken a greater role in Lebanon by gaining seats on the cabinet and legitimizing its de facto control of southern Lebanon. Syria recently withdrew its armed forces from Lebanon under pressure from the United Nations. But Hezbollah has never been forcibly removed from the country, despite Biden's claim.

    Biden claimed that Sen. John McCain, "voted the same way" on a troop funding bill that Gov. Palin was criticizing Sen. Obama for voting against. At the time of the vote, Plain pointed out, Sen. Biden said that Obama's vote was wrong because the funds would ultimately, "save thousands of American lives." During the debate, however, Biden sought a pass for Obama by referring to a vote McCain had made against a funding measure with an artificial time table for troop withdrawal from Iraq attached to it. That bill was destined for a veto by President Bush and was widely considered a political stunt by the Democratic leadership of Congress. Obama, on the other hand, voted against the final measure, after initially promising not to, making him one of only 14 senators to do so.
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    On domestic policy, Biden denied being against clean coal technology, when in just the previous week he told an Ohio audience that both he and Obama were, "not supporting clean coal." He again sought cover for a vote by Sen. Obama, claiming that Sen. McCain had voted the same way. The issue was Palin's claim that Obama had voted for tax increases on people making just $42,000 per year. But Obama voted for the legislation on two separate occasions. McCain did not vote on either one.

    On issue after issue, Sen. Biden had difficulty keeping the facts straight during his lone debate appearance. Luckily for him, and for the Obama campaign, the vice-presidential debate is not as high-stakes as the presidential series. Still, Biden's fables could haunt the Obama campaign for the remainder of the campaign. The McCain camp is gearing up to give Gov. Palin a more high-profile role after her successful performance at the debate. Biden's performance may force the Obama campaign to sideline him until the election, leaving the campaign shorthanded on the campaign trail and unable to effectively respond to charges in the election's final month.


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    Mark Impomeni

    Mark Impomeni is not a journalist, or a pundit, but a citizen with a keen interest in national issues. Skeptical and argumentative...more

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